Invitation
by Timekpr
Summary: Josef can't say no. Mick/Josef and Mick/Josef/Beth - COMPLETE AND CH. 2 REPOSTED WITH CORRECTIONS
1. Chapter 1

Arial Font

**Invitation ** Chapter 1

Josef loves this view. Its the vista of the glowing city spreading out at his feet that draws him back to this place, to settle back in his lair surrounded by the reek of burnt plastic and the ashes of his friends. Looking out over the city below reminds him how distant he has become from the pulse of life below, and somehow as well of the limitless possibilities he has gained. Even Mick's familiar shape becomes elegant silhouetted by the light, only confirming that asking his friend to meet him here was perfect.

A brush of cool fingers against his own draws his attention back into the room to focus on the crystal glass being pressed into his palm. "You looked like you needed a drink." Mick stated as he made himself comfortable perched on the edge of the desk.

"What you need isn't served in a glass, Mick", Josef's voice mocked. Raising one eyebrow, "Could we skip the preliminaries and get right to 'Josef, I need a favor' before the sun comes up? "

"If I don't take her I'm going to lose her." Josef could taste the current of fear flavoring Mick's words."She asked me about sex, Josef, she doesn't understand the danger."

Josef reclined back in his chair, regarding him with sympathetic eyes,"You waited too long, if you taste her now you don't have the control to stop."

He watches Mick stalk forward to the window, to stop poised right over the abyss of the city.

The tension in Mick's form mixes with the taste of fear into an elixir that stirs his innermost being as he releases enough control to study the younger man with glittering eyes of ice. Whatever Mick wants he is afraid to ask and Josef curbs his angry instinct with an effort. Never has he denied Mick anything, but now he hesitates to ask ?

"I know that", Mick replied angrily, "do you think I would ask this if I had any other choice?"

"If you had listened to me there wouldn't be any danger. Well-fed equals control."Josef punctuated the last word with a click of fangs against his own glass. "I'll lend you someone to take the edge off if you want."

"But what if its not enough? I can't risk her. I gave up everything I wanted for her." Mick snarled, turning back to face the charred desk and the elder vampire.

Josef chuckled softly, letting his face resume a human shape as his eyes darken, "Not everything, you still want her."

Mick draws an unneeded breath before forcing out his next words, "I need you there. You are my sire now, you can control me. Don't let me hurt her." _'Don't let me kill her'_ is left unspoken.

Josef's hands push back though his hair and knows this time the vampire who always knows what to say is rendered speechless. He can feel the weight if his friend's eyes tracing each pass of fingers over his scalp. Mick stands still as a carved statue while tension rises in the room like an uninvited third guest, solid enough to touch.

Josef's crystal blue eyes pin him in place, "If you are asking me to a menage a trois with you and the lovely Miss Turner, how can I refuse? If you are asking me to play referee for you from across the room you can forget it." He knows Mick is mesmerized by the flicker of tongue between gleaming fangs as each word is formed, and sees suddenly that the Mick is more than a little tormented by the memory of those same teeth sliding into his own flesh.

Deliberately Josef presses the advantage, "Did you enjoy it, Mick?" Do you want her to know the way you enjoyed being taken, being consumed, being controlled? He slips a deceptively casual smile when Mick's only answer is eyes fading to vampire blue.

Mick is still clinging to the last shred of control when Josef's powerful hands grasp his shoulders and within a blink he pushes his child hard, trapping Mick between scorched but still solid oak and the even less forgiving hardness of his own lithe body. He feels the impact transferred between their bodies, jarring both of their erections painfully. Their faces are so close that he has to fight back the desire to bite just to state terms, "Ask me, Mick, ask me to take you both. Beg me to feed you my blood while you bury yourself in her. Plead with me to make her scream in ecstasy while you pierce her throat."

He knows he has won when he releases Mick and steps back. Mick draws shuddering breaths over and over and begs with eyes and body. Josef stands motionless, silently demanding a last verbal surrender. Mick flights to form an answer but only a hiss of pain escapes as he catches a razor edge of fang. Josef can see the faint welling of blood at the corner of the parted lips and he closes in on the open mouth, as spilled blood slams them together in a frenzy that answers every question.


	2. Chapter 2

Base Arial

Josef finds himself torn as he prepares for Beth and Mick to join him that night. While his bedroom skills are kept razor sharp with regular exercise, to himself he can admit that seduction is an art he's let fall into disuse. Living in LA, all he's needed in a very long time is power, spiced with a generous helping of money. The tailored clothes and expensive cars are bait, and the ride up his twisting driveway is hook, line, and sinker. Almost he wishes he could see the anticipation build in Beth's eyes when Mick brings her in. Each turn of the drive brings another wonder into view, terraced gardens giving way to the glass and steel of the house rising above like a temple lit by the last rays of sunset.

He imagines that she might be just naive enough to gasp as the car rolls to a stop on cobbles laid in a complicated herringbone pattern studded with classic foreign automobiles. Mirror bright chrome catching the dying red rays of light casting brilliant beams up to the tinted panes of the house. Will she see the trap within, he wonders? Would she even care? Mick may think he knows why he's brought the woman he loves here, but Josef knows Mick is innocent in his own ways. Innocent of his own needs, ignorant of his own desires in ways that Josef is no longer willing to abide.

He has made every effort to counter the calculated effect of his home. Tonight, Beth should feel safe, until he's ready to draw back the shadows and force her to acknowledge the truth. Josef knows that even the danger is an illusion – he has two of his men on standby in the carriage house with a pair of experienced meals just in case Mick should lose all control. His self-honesty extends just far enough to be ready for anything. Beth has certainly shown herself to have remarkable talent for seeding chaos. And he intends to provide a very fertile sowing ground for those seeds of disaster.

He stands at the window and watches Mick lift her gently to her feet, sees the smile as she shakes her hair loose. The last of the sun's light makes her skin glow like a single candle in a dark room. The golden hair flows down her back like liquid wax down a jeweled candelabra. Envy taints the flavor of the last sip of blood in his glass, as he sees her reach out for Mick's hand and draw him close for a brief kiss. Certainty that before the night is over those same graceful hands will reach for him dispells the bitter dregs and lets him recover enough to face the doorway with a smile when they enter.

"Mick, and the lovely Miss Turner. Welcome to my home." Josef counters his gracious words by stepping forward in a blur of speed to capture Beth's hand and place the lightest of kisses upon her knuckles. Barely a butterfly brush of lips on her skin before drawing back to study her.

Beth's eyes dilate in surprise at his speed, but her voice betrays none of the shock when she answers,"Josef, you've been quite mysterious about this invitation, Mick hasn't told me a thing about why we're here tonight." Her glance wavers between the two men, all her reporter instincts looking for clues.

"Correct, Mick hasn't told you a thing. So I am going to answer your questions." Josef confidently turns and walks deeper into the house, certain that they will follow. Mick knows the way and Beth won't let a story get away that easily. The tap of Beth's high heels rapid on polished stone makes an odd music with the slower hesitant shuffle of Mick's loafers and the barely perceptible impact of his own bare feet. When he pauses at the bar and begins to pour three tumblers of brandy he senses Mick guiding Beth down to the sofa. By the time he approaches to offer the drinks, Mick has stationed himself like a medieval bodyguard, standing behind and just slightly to one side of his princess, seated in splendor on the red velvet cushions.

With effort he pulls his gaze from Beth and meets Mick's eyes, "Last chance, brother."

Mick can't take the inspection and closes eyes before answering. "She needs to know and theres no other way."

The spike of Beth's heartbeat hits Josef like a drug and his eyes ghost to white with the rush of adrenalin. Josef fights back laughter, instantly aware that Beth has leapt to the conclusion that she's been brought here to be turned. Mick abandons his stoic pose and steps around the sofa to face Beth, cupping her face in his hands, stroking her cheek reassuringly.

Between one breath and the next, Josef moves to join her, weaving his fingers between Mick's and turning her to meet his cold alien eyes. "I will make you exactly two promises tonight, Beth. First, that you'll be alive at the end of it all." He favors her with the little half smile he uses on the freshies, the one that gives the illusion of a full grin while hiding the deadly weapons from view.

"Second promise: we will show you only the truth. No lies. No pretense." With his voice alone Josef directs the last statement at his only brother and Mick obediently drops the human mask. "At the risk of sounding like an old movie, are you sure you can handle the truth? Are you ready to deal with the reality of what we are and not what we pretend to be?"

She nods and he can feel her terror being replaced rapidly by curiosity. She raises one hand up to each of them, one stroking lightly over Mick's pale skin, the other outlining Josef's slightly parted lips with a single fingertip. Josef watches her shift from exploration to deliberate teasing, the finger so tantalizingly close to his lips, hearing the indrawn breath she draws from Mick when her other hand dips down to trace the vein from neck to collarbone. Long before her human senses register the trap, Josef captures both of her wrists in an unbreakable hold and draws that lone extended finger into his mouth, licking and sucking, never allowing her to quite feel the extended fang, tasting this tiny part of her skin with complete focus.

Mick vocalizes a moan while Beth is still trying to understand the speed of events. Long before she begins to fight his grasp he releases her. Beth sprawls back against the velvet drawing rapid breaths, eyes riveted to Josef's mouth. He indulges her curiosity with a open-mouthed hiss, displaying the perfect ivory weapons so often kept hidden. Her excitement never falters, but Mick reacts to the sound with a wave of jealousy and a hint of angry growl deep in his throat.

Josef never takes his eyes from Beth as he reclines back on the opposite arm of the couch. Time to push her, push Mick a little harder, "Can you kiss an armed man, lovely girl, can you trust yourself to play with danger?" He extends his hand to Mick in a gesture that he knows the younger vampire will recognize. And hate, since it has been his habit for many years to summon his meals this way. Mick's growl drops in tone until there is just a vibration coursing through the room, but he obeys perfectly, dropping to his knees alongside Josef and tilting his face up.

"Answer me, Beth Turner, anyone can kiss a man, but are you brave enough to kiss the vampire?" Two sets of crystal blue eyes confront her and at last Josef is rewarded with the delicate perfume of her fear. "This is an excellent time to be afraid. No one is here to protect you. I agreed to this to protect Mick – even from himself."

Josef doesn't leave her a moment to answer before drawing Mick up and into a deep kiss. There is a certain skill to the French kiss, and only a grandmaster can hope to choreograph two tongues and four fangs without injury. Mick surrenders to Josef's lead without hesitation letting the acknowledged master map out a path between the razors, his hands coming up to slide along the smooth muscled flesh of his sire's chest. Josef kisses like there is all eternity to explore Mick, no rush to move, just a timeless glide of tongues through a maze of daggers.

It takes a fiery brand planted in the center of his chest for Josef to break the kiss. Beth's human-warm hand firm and solid, the heat of it burning through his silk shirt. Mick stays stunned on his knees until her liquid voice breaks the spell for him as well. "Kiss me," she says, and Josef is more than pleased when she resolves any confusion about who she was speaking to by crawling up into his lap. He blesses the forethought of purchasing sturdy furniture when Mick joins them, wrapping around Beth from behind. One strong arm around her waist and one gentle hand pressing her head forward to meet Josef's open mouth.


	3. Chapter 3

Arial Font

**Invitation** Chapter 3

Beth's lips touch his and plunging into her mouth is like the first sip of scalding tea, for a moment the sheer _burn _of it overwhelms his sense of taste. Only as he explores the softness, stroking his tongue along hers does the flavor burst over his senses. Her lets her boldly flick forward, daringly slipping herself between fangs and he has to parry quickly when she nearly slides over the needle point. Josef controls the kiss ruthlessly after that, driving her back against Mick. When he tastes the cinnamon spark of surprise flood her mouth he alters tactics, now kissing slowly, denying her breath. Rich arousal pours into him like wine and he wonders what exactly Mick's hands are touching now.

Relentlessly he counters each move as she begins to fight in earnest for air, pushing himself closer until their bodies touch. Its then that he can feel the rhythmic stroke of Mick's fingertips over her nipples, and he presses closer to enjoy the rough drag of Mick's hand catching the silk of his own shirt. Beth's heart pounds so fiercely now that Josef has to curb himself sharply, pulling back before he draws blood.

The view is amazing as he draws away, Beth gasping half in panic and half in passion as he frees her. Josef watches as Mick's hands soothe her body, with a touch more calming than passionate now. "Never forget that we don't need to breathe, Beth,", he reminds in a chiding tone while tracing her collarbone with a gentle stroke. "Every breath you draw is a gift." Perhaps not his best line of the night but the warning scares her just enough. Enough that Mick stops playing nice guy and rips the dress down her shoulders with gratifying violence.

Beth's reaction to the sudden violence in Mick is as predictable as it is welcome. She jerks herself forward out of Mick's clasp, falling across Josef's chest. Two sets of glowing crystal eyes meet over her collapsed form in a moment of perfect understanding. "My turn," hisses Mick, and Josef barely has time to flip Beth face up before Mick's weight crushes them both down as he swoops in to claim her mouth.

Josef's respect for Mick's earlier restraint moves up several notches. He hadn't appreciated how distracting a very aroused Beth Turner squirming against the length of his body would be. It takes all his centuries of experience to maneuver while pinned under them but it pays amazing dividends when his newly-freed hand dives expertly down to caress the soft curve of Beth's outer thigh. Josef matches the speed of his strokes along her skin to the music of Mick's groans until Beth's jerk of pain slams her head back hard into his chest.

Events happen in flashes after that – Mick jumping back, Josef reacting on instinct alone to arrest Mick's flight, Beth tumbled aside and falling. Before Beth's scream of surprise even fades all motion ceases and Josef's more than a little impressed with his own agility. Balanced precariously on one knee he holds Beth one-handed a bare inch above the floor. His left hand is clamped at the base of Mick's skull with a crushing strength that would have snapped a human neck. Only when the echoes of her scream fade does he detect the faint scent of human blood and hear the exquisite sound as it falls from Beth's mouth drop by drop to splash on stone.

"Take her to my room, we need a more forgiving environment." He flexes his fingers into the tense muscle of Mick's neck to clarify that this is no request, but an order to be obeyed. Even then he doesn't release his grip until he sees the surrender in his best friend's face.


	4. Chapter 4

Invitation Ch. 4

Josef holds himself still as a corpse until Mick lifts Beth, cradling her close against his chest. The display of tenderness after Mick's near panicked flight is infuriating and Josef does not restrain his hiss of disappointment. Yet when his eyes catch the tightening of Mick's neck and shoulders at the sound Josef's anger flows seamlessly into lust. Damn distracting, the taut cords of muscle, the pale flesh such an inadequate barrier to the rich blood beneath. Trapped in the memory of that skin parting at the touch of his fangs it comes as a shock when he feels flesh in his mouth.

The flavor that reaches his lust-blurred senses is the dark earthen richness of a vampire, and not the ephemeral sweetness of mortal blood. It centers him, draws his rational mind clear. _Mick. _Even after centuries the speed at which his ancient body can turn desire to reality is an occasional surprise. Pleasant, though, feeling _the fragile body of Beth trapped between them, heart pounding with force enough that the echo of it gives his own form an illusion of life. Mick relaxes into the bite with a fledgling's instinctive surrender and Josef can no longer deny to himself what Mick's body is declaring - he is a sire once again. When he pulls away, his voice is hoarse with rare emotion, "You're mine."_

Mick is already moving down the hallway as he answers, "I know, Josef, I know." The tone is filled with bitterness, but Josef is grateful that at least he can detect no hatred. Yet.

When he pauses in the doorway watching Mick lay Beth tenderly down on crimson silk sheets, the accusation in her gaze stop him cold. Valiant Beth, coming to Mick's defense once again, "What do you mean, 'He's yours'.?" Her voice is possessive, jealous, even threatening – a mortal woman trying to contest a claim she cannot begin to comprehend.

The question was obviously directed at him, but Josef is pleased when Mick answers first, "He's my sire, Beth. Wanting to save you didn't turn me back, he did."

Josef takes the opportunity to strip off his shirt, flicking buttons open with practiced efficiency. He can still feel the weight of those human eyes upon him and the flicker of guilt in his soul makes him turn away before letting the silk slide off his shoulders. Still hesitant to involve himself in this little explanation he seats himself on the edge of the bed silently, hoping this little scenario he's crafted with such care isn't about to crash and burn due to some pathetic human incest taboo. Or, worse yet, that Beth will see him now as the cause of Mick's torment.

Beth's next words fill him with unaccustomed joy, "If Josef as your sire means that Coraline is out of our lives, I'm in favor. Not to mention that I wouldn't want to do this with her." Josef freezes as her fever-warm hand strokes up his spine and all her heat seems to pour directly into his cock.

This change of subject is more than welcome and he slides back to lay beside her. A bit of his customary humor is evident when he issues the next order, "Mick, I hate to say it - you are overdressed for this event." He busies himself pulling the last shreds of clothing from Beth while the soft rustle of cloth to his left indicates that at last Mick has discovered the ability to obey without hesitation. Leisurely he explores Beth with lips and tongue, tracing the soft curve of her breast. He brushes lightly over her nipple and growls when she arches upward into his touch, seeking more contact.

Mick grants her wish for more by joining them at last and drawing her other nipple into his mouth. Josef expertly mirrors each motion of Mick's, and curses himself silently when he grinds himself hard against Beth's hip. The unpleasant scrape of cloth on the oversensitive head of his cock reminds him that he should have ditched the pants long before now. Unwilling to surrender the sweet flesh between his lips he fumbles one-handed with button and zipper, unsuccessfully, until his hand is pushed firmly aside. Mick suddenly looms over him and pins his wrists to the bed with inhuman force.

Josef fights a battle deep inside, controlling his desire to break free, trying to answer the mute plea he can read so clearly in his brother's eyes. Deliberately he nods once before baring his throat, offering himself in a conscious imitation of the pose Mick assumed the night he begged Josef to do the turning. The pain is a welcome release when Mick strikes hard, fangs carving flesh like daggers. It won't be a clean puncture but a ragged double tear bearing no resemblance to the nearly perfect bites Josef so carefully places on his freshies. Wounds like this kill a human in minutes, but Josef's blood is too thick with age to flow freely from any lesser injury.

He's lost track of Beth in the pain, seeing only flashes of light behind closed lids, hearing only the sound of his own ragged breathing, feeling only the surge of agony as Mick coaxes a renewed flow of life from his veins. The sensation of hands softer than silk sliding down his body barely registers until the startling warmth and wet surrounds his erection as Beth swallows him. The pull of her mouth on his cock blurs with the steady draw by Mick at his throat and Josef isn't sure which one triggers his orgasm.

Ecstasy so intense, so overwhelming that Josef isn't aware of how much time he's been flying when at last he opens his eyes. Awareness comes in slow stages – the dull ache in his neck matches the bruised throbbing in wrists nearly broken by the force of Mick's grip. He finds himself laying cradled in Beth's lap, the last drops of blood from his savaged throat painting the inside of her thigh a deep red. The rich scent of blood mixes with the intoxicating perfume of her arousal and the temptation to bury his face and map her sex with his tongue can not be denied.

End part 4


	5. Chapter 5

Josef clasps her hips and immerses his senses in her secrets. Licking along the delicate folds is like unwrapping a gift, each stroke revealing a new and greater treasure. The sweet surge of her slick arousal over his tongue carries a hint of rich summer sunlight. Tempted, Josef turns slightly and delicately draws the needle sharp point of one fang along the perfect unmarked skin of her inner thigh. Beth responds with a shudder of anticipation, rather than a flinch of fear, and he preses teeth a fraction harder against her flesh. Nipping gently he baits her until she begins to push into his attacks, desperate for more pressure. Josef draws out the teasing bites, stalling until at last Mick's fingers entwine with his own where they rest on the curve of Beth's hip.

The rapid one-two-three pressure of Mick's hand is all the warning he requires, and he's prepared seconds before Beth goes rigid above him. The shock of Mick piercing her neck paralyzes Beth momentarily and Josef quickly adjusts his grasp to immobilize her lower body while Mick does the same to her torso. The room is filled with the sound of Beth's pain given voice - a soft cry that melds seamlessly into a full-throated scream of pleasure when Josef focuses his own sucking mouth on the hard nub of her clit. This is exactly what he wanted her to learn, at last to know for herself that agony and ecstasy are not two sides of the same coin; they are two shades of the same color, blending with such subtlety that even an expert can not draw a boundary between them.

Relentlessly he drives deeper, feeling the spasms of her release. Assaulting her sensitive flesh over and over all the while forcing her body to unnatural stillness. Denied any other means of expression she moans wordlessly, captured between sire and child. For Josef it is a moment of rare bliss to hold the essence of such a fragile creature in his hands; hands far more suited to destruction than protection. Only with a pang of loss can he pull away, certain that Mick will follow his lead. Mick gives a final snarl muffled by the tender flesh trapped in his jaws, but finally relents so that Beth can collapse to the mattress.

Separated from the living warmth of Beth's skin, Josef can assess the situation with a careful glance. Mick appears to have complete control of his bloodlust though it is obvious there are still other lusts left to sate. Beth's eyes are glazed but her panting breaths and glowing skin are signs of orgasmic overload and not an indicator of impending unconsciousness due to blood loss.


	6. Chapter 6

Ch. 6

Of course, Josef mused, at some point his own blood loss was going to catch up with a vengeance. Not that he cared in the least, not with Beth and Mick both displayed on his bed like some kind of elegant buffet. Mick's two perfect punctures adorn Beth's throat like an alluring tattoo, enhanced by the almost artful trail of blood slipping along her golden skin. He moves to straddle her, laying kisses up the centerline of her body to place one final feather-light kiss at the hollow of her throat. Josef can feel the weight of Mick's jealousy, so palpable in the air that is almost as if an uninvited fourth guest has joined them. Poised over Beth's unresisting body he turns his head to Mick with a sardonic smile, "You won't actually snap my spine for taking her first, but I'll spare you the embarrassment of trying and failing." He rolls to one side lazily, gesturing imperiously for Mick to take over.

For all the protests that it wasn't about sex, it certainly looks to be about sex when Mick pulls Beth up to her knees and guides her thighs to each side of his hips. Josef has to give his own cock a stern mental reminder that his role is "wise master of safe human-vampire sex" and not "teach Beth the joys of double-penetration" before kneeling up behind her. Even so, the soft curve of her ass brushing his length nearly tempts him to opt for the second duty. He takes Beth's hands in his own and leans her forward to place them both palm down on the sculpted planes of Mick's chest. Only when he feels Beth's elbows lock solidly to brace her weight does he lean back slightly to span her narrow waist with his own pale fingers. Deliberately he captures Mick's attention and blinks, once, again, and on the third blink pushes Beth's pelvis down.

Her scream is not one of pain nor of pleasure, but of both and neither all at once – impaled on Mick's erect cock that in his current state of painful arousal is as unyielding as the marble flesh of an ancient Greek statue. Josef confines her in place, locking his own hips tight against the firm smooth muscles of her buttocks. The trap grounds her, steadies her breathing, allowing her body to adapt to the invader. Its a respite he can't let continue, observing Mick's own battle to remain still beneath them. He slides one hand down Beth's belly and seeks out her clit, coaxing her body back to a fever pitch. A long moment passes where the only movement in the night is the persistent stroke of his fingers over her center. Even when his efforts are rewarded Beth stays silent, but Mick emits a long growl of frustration at the intensity of her spasms around his most sensitive organ.

Some things never lose their beauty – Josef has observed many couples engaged in the primal act of sexual congress, and yet he never tires of the sight. The graceful rise and fall of Beth riding Mick is somehow hypnotic, so completely immersed in each other that Josef has to tuck his guilt into an out of the way corner of his mind to avoid regarding himself as a third wheel. Rubbing his face over Beth's shoulders and neck, deeply inhaling the scent of her passion at last he becomes a predator; awaiting the perfect opportunity to strike. He needs no enhanced vampire senses to gage Mick's condition - every stroke is punctuated by a sibilant hiss of breath and he takes a mental memo to ride the boy about his vocal nature at a later date.

When Mick at last loses himself, the force of his orgasm drives Beth once more to the pinnacle of pleasure. Josef waits precious seconds as she writhes in his grasp and just as she begins the slow glide back down he stabs into her neck. _Beth_. This is the flavor of life itself: the burning essence of her soul distilled to purest ambrosia. Nectar of the gods, one sweet drop more precious than gold, one taste more addictive than heroin, one mouthful worth waiting a hundred years to swallow. He lets her heart alone feed him in rapid bursts, never letting himself draw at the vein, savoring each pulse like the rarest of delicacies. Never much given to regret, Josef can still appreciate the irony that feeding like this is the most inhuman of acts – and the only one that makes him feel alive.

Perhaps to a human, vampire eyes are a mystery. Josef locks his own crystalline gaze with Mick's glacial stare and it is all too easy to decipher the emotions within. Beth is no longer a barrier between them – she is a bridge connecting them. Mick loves not her, but the fleeting intensity of her mortality. Turned, Mick's obsession with her would fade, as the raging fire of her soul faded to the lingering glow of unchanging immortality. Josef knows his own eyes are sad as they darken back to the colors of his human guise.

He leaves them there in his bed to bask in the afterglow, murmuring to one another of love in voices his hearing is too sharp to ignore. Silently he dons a robe of midnight silk and prowls along the dark corridors of his home. Pausing at the sideboard, he pours himself a glass of cognac before seeking out the haven of his walk-in freezer. Death has its merits, one of which is certainly sharing a beautiful woman with his best friend. A woman who will burn out her life, unable to sustain the attentions of two immortal lovers, leaving at the last only ashes. For tonight he lets his friend hold tight to his illusions – when the time comes and Mick loses Beth forever, Josef will be ready to pick up the pieces.


End file.
